The FMA Joins the DWMA
by pollywan123
Summary: Edward Elric and his brother, Al, head to the DWMA to follow up on some of Marcoh's clues about the Philosopher's Stone. While posing as Alchemy teachers there, they meet Maka and the gang. Everyone is happy to have a couple new friends, except Kid, that is.
1. The First Day

"Hey, lady! Are you gonna finish that?" Ragnarok demanded. It was lunchtime at the DWMA, and Liz had only eaten half of her lunch. She was staring intently at a tiny chip in her otherwise perfect nail polish. "HEY! LADY!" Ragnarok was eyeing Liz's half-eaten sandwich hungrily.

"Huh?" Liz stopped staring at her chipped nail long enough to slide her plate over to Crona, so he could give it to Ragnarok. "Here. Now will you leave me alone?" She dug into her purse for her nail polish and started fixing her chipped nail.

"So did you all hear the news?" asked Tsubaki. "I heard we have a new teacher. I think he teaches alchemy?

"

Blackstar jumped up. "YES! Another skill I can master! Soon I will be the master of ALL skills! Umm, one question, what's alchemy?" Before he knew what happened, Maka grabbed the book she was reading and Maka-CHOPPED Blackstar in his thick head.

"You've never heard of alchemy? It's a form of chemistry, based on the transformation of matter. You better start studying if you hope to master it, Blackstar. Plus, I heard we have a State Alchemist as our teacher, whatever that means." She returned to her book as everyone discussed what a State Alchemist could be. At that moment, the doors to the cafeteria opened and in walked a giant suit of armor and a little blonde kid. The short kid walked up to the table where Maka and everyone were sitting.

"Hey, can anyone tell me where I could find professor Franken Stein? I'm supposed to see him about a job opening?" As he was talking, the right sleeve of his long red coat slipped up, showing some sort of metal underneath. Kid was the first to notice, since it made the short guy un-symmetrical. Kid made a face and looked away, disgusted that someone could live without being perfectly symmetrical.

Soul spoke up. "Sure, he's probably in the teachers lounge. You said you needed to talk to him about a job opening? Like, as a teacher?" _He looks a little short to be a teacher…_

The short kid knew what Soul was going to say. "Yes, as a teacher. I'm Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist! And this is my brother, Alphonse. I'll be your new alchemy teacher." He stood there, met by awkward silence, then an uproar of laughter from all the surrounding tables. Shouts came from all over the cafeteria.

"Aren't you a little short to be a teacher?"

"I'm taller than that pipsqueak!"

"Are you sure you don't mean the guy in the armor? He fits the title!"

Alphonse shook his head, looking embarrassed. Then, "Brother!" He grabbed Edward by the waist, keeping him from tearing the kids to shreds for calling him short.

"DON'T CALL ME SHORT! YOU WANNA SEE SHORT, I'LL SHOW YOU SHORT!" Edward wriggled out of his brothers' grasp and clapped his gloved ands together. Suddenly, a bolt of blue lightning shot out from between his fingers and he put his hands on a chair. Before anyone could blink, the chair shrunk to the size of a thimble. "THAT'S SHORT!" he bellowed. He picked up the tiny chair in his palm, and flicked it at one of the kids who had insulted him. Everybody gasped and applauded at this wonder. Ed accepted the praise, and walked out of the cafeteria to find Professor Stein.

"What was up with that other guy, in the armor?" asked Soul.

Everyone was silent, and the only sound was Maka flipping the pages in her book about alchemy, trying to find the part about transmutation circles. "How could he have done that without one?" she wondered to herself. "Only really talented alchemists can do that. He must be pretty good then." She sighed, knowing how much she would have to study to pass her new class.

"Brother, are you sure that was the best thing to do?" Ed and Al were on their way to the teachers lounge. "I mean, we're here on business. This is the first concrete lead we've gotten from Marcoh's notes in a while. We can't mess this up." Al's footsteps echoed through the empty halls.

"Ah, don't worry, Al. I was just giving them a little… demonstration of what their new teacher can really do!" Ed replied. He put his arms behind his head. "Besides, all I did was shrink a little chair. I didn't cause any real damage. I'll be able to do a lot more than that if the Philosopher's Stone _is _here." He stopped at the end of the hall and looked at the sign on the door: TEACHERS LOUNGE. NO STUDENTS ALLOWED. He sighed, and pushed open the door. He and Al were met with quizzical stares from the occupants of the room.

One teacher, who appeared to be blue, with a hole in his head, was the first to say anything. "Hey, didn't you read the sign? No students allowed."

Ed started twitching. Before he could say anything, Al spoke up. "We're looking for Professor Stein. He said to meet him here about an alchemy teacher position."

The blue guy stood up. "Oh, I'm so sorry. My name is Sid, I'm a teacher here. You must be the new teacher Stein's been talking about, the Fullmetal Alchemist," he said as he reached out to shake Al's hand. "You certainly fit the title, what with that armor!" He chuckled to himself.

Al looked worried. "Oh no, you're mistaken. My name is Alphonse Elric, and this is my older brother, Edward. He's the State Alchemist." Alphonse pointed to his brother, who seemed ready to explode.

Sid scratched his head. "Are you sure? He looks a little short to be a teacher, let alone work for the military."

That did it. Edward exploded in a fit of rage from being called short. "WHO ARE YOU CALLING A SHRIMP-FACED TINY MIDGET?!" Again, Alphonse grabbed Ed by the waist to keep him from hurting Sid. "I'M STILL GROWING, DON'T YOU KNOW THAT! I'LL BE TALLER THAN EVERYONE BEFORE YOU KNOW IT!"

Everybody was staring at the two brothers. Suddenly a door near the back of the room slammed open. A man came hurtling out, riding on a chair with wheels on the bottom. Just as he was about to stop, his long white lab coat got stuck in the wheels of his chair, knocking him to the ground. He stood up, brushed off his lab coat, turned a giant knob in his head, and walked over to Ed and Al.

"Hello, you must be the Elric brothers. I'm Professor Stein. I hope you made it here safely." He held his hand out to Edward. "And you must be the notorious Fullmetal Alchemist, right?" Ed nodded, surprised that someone actually realized _he_ was the State Alchemist. "If you'll just come with me, we'll discuss the job opening." Without another word, Stein walked back into the room he had just hurtled out of. The boys looked at each other, shrugged, and followed the professor.

Sitting at a desk, Stein picked up a folder. _Elric _was written on the front of it. _Must be my resume, _thought Ed. After flipping through the pages for a few minutes, Stein looked up and twisted the giant knob in his head. He seemed to become more focused after doing it. "So, you're here for a job opening. Don't you think you're a little young to be a teacher? We have students as old as you, you know." He repositioned his glasses and looked at Edward for an answer.

"Believe me, sir. I may be young, but I'm a skilled alchemist. My brother and I have been practicing alchemy since we were very young; it's helped us get out of some major scrapes." Ed chuckled. "But we've decided we need a break from said scrapes. Thought settling down in a nice town for a while would be a relaxing change."

"I'm sure you are _quite_ skilled," replied Stein. "It says here that you passed the test to become a state Alchemist at age twelve. That's almost record-breaking. But Alphonse, it appears you failed to complete the test. Any particular reason?" The professor looked up at Al's towering figure.

"Uhh, well… You see, um… That's because—"

"Look, professor," Ed interrupted his sputtering brother. "We're on a mission. I can't tell you what this mission is, but I _will_ tell you that part of it wasn't possible without military privileges. We found it best if both of us didn't have to suffer being the dog's of the military." Al looked at his older brother, afraid too much information was given. _What if he thinks coming here is part of our mission?_ Fretted Al. _Then how will we be able to follow our lead?_

Professor Stein peered at them for another moment, then slid a paper over to the brothers. "If you would just sign here," he instructed, "you're all set. You start tomorrow, 7 o'clock sharp. You'll be teaching in room 206." He smiled at the boys. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have some important dissections to complete." With that, he left the room. The brothers looked at each other, shuddered, and left to their hotel in Death City.

The next morning, everyone walked into room 206 and sat down, waiting to see how their new teacher would do on his first day. Maka had been up late the night before, trying to learn as much about alchemy as possible in one night. Despite her determination, she didn't learn much. There was just too little information, and the books she could find we're hard to understand. Suddenly the door burst open, and the Elric brothers walked in.

"Good morning, class," Edward said with a grin. "Today we're going to learn how to draw a transmutation circle." His words were met with silence and puzzled looks. He sighed and turned to his brother. "Al, care to draw one while I explain?" Al nodded, picked up a piece of chalk, and started drawing. For the next hour, Edward—I mean Mr. Elric—explained what a transmutation circle was and its importance. Alphonse walked around the room and looked at the students circles. When he got to Kid's desk, he paused and looked at the tiny bit that had been drawn. Kid's head was resting on his desk.

"Having some trouble there?" Al inquired.

Kid looked up, surprised. "I can't do it! My circle isn't symmetrical enough!" He looked Al over, and suddenly he broke into a huge smile. "But you! You are _perfect!_ Whoever crafted this armor was a true artist! It's perfectly symmetrical! You… I… Ahhh." Suddenly, Kid passed out.

Al was worried. "Did I do something? What should I do? Brother," he called, "a boy fainted! Help!"

Soul and Blackstar laughed while Liz explained: "Kid is obsessed with symmetry. If he sees something perfectly symmetrical, he gets a little…over-excited. He'll be fine in a few minutes." She seems used to incidents like this, so Al moved on to the next student, Maka Albarn.

Al looked at Maka's transmutation circle, then picked it up and held it up towards the light. "Uhh, brother, you should see this," he called to Ed, who was on the other side of the room, trying not to yell at a kid who had called him 'Shorty.' Ed looked up from the cowering kid and walked over to Maka's seat to see her circle. He grabbed her paper from his brother and inspected it. He blinked and held it closer to his face, not sure he was seeing correctly. After he looked at it for a good few minutes, Maka started to get embarrassed. _What if I made one that did something really bad? _She thought to herself as she started blushing.

Ed looked up into Maka's bushing face, and immediately felt bad. _Oh no, I probably hurt her feelings. She probably thinks it's terrible._ He cleared his throat and looked at Maka. "Well, I wasn't expecting such talent in our first class."

This made Maka blush even more. "You really think so?" She asked shyly. "I've been studying since I heard about this class." _Unlike some people, _she thought good-naturedly as she looked over at Blackstar, who had his book upside-down, trying to figure out the symbols. Tsubaki was next to him, trying her best to help her clueless partner. Maka's eyes drifted towards Crona, who seemed to be doing better than the rest of the group. Ragnarok seemed to be subdued at the moment, which was good for Crona's concentration. Maka could tell he had a lot of skill in drawing. His pencil seemed to glide over the paper, as if he already knew all the symbols. _I wonder if Medusa knew any alchemy. Maybe she taught Crona… _Thinking about Medusa made Maka's blood boil. Ed's voice brought her back to the present, and smothered her thoughts about the evil witch.

"Yeah, this is a really good transmutation circle," Ed was saying. "This would be used for bigger, more advanced things. For fixing something more complex, like a radio," he said with a grin. He and his brother shared a look that implied they had been in that situation before. Ed handed the paper back to Maka as the bell rang, signaling the end of the school day. "Okay class!" Ed called before everyone left, "Don't forget to study tonight. Tomorrow, we'll be working on the chemical components of objects, and if they can be transmuted with other items. Have a good day!" Everyone filed out of the room, eager to get home.

Kid had regained consciousness by then, and he was shielding himself from Soul and Blackstar's jokes about his little "episode." The girls followed, except Maka. She stood near the door, but made no move to leave. "Hey, Maka," Soul called, "You coming?" He looked back at his meister, who looked deep in thought. He walked back and took her by her shoulders, looking in her eyes. "Hey, what's up?" She leaned into her weapon and whispered in his ear.

"There's something strange about their soul wavelengths. They're so… strong, yet so fragile at the same time." She looked confused, like she wanted to know more. _She's Maka, _thought Soul, _of course she wants to learn more. _

"Hey, Mr. Elric!" Soul called to Ed, who was picking up the papers from all the now-empty seats. He looked up, startled that anyone was still here. He walked over to Soul and Maka. "Hey, we were wondering if you were up for a game basketball? We're gonna play for a little while after school. You and your brother wanna play?"

Everyone had stopped to wait for Soul and Maka. Kid overheard Soul's invitation and quickly walked away, leaving everyone confused by his speedy exit. He walked outside before his hatred of unsymmetrical things got the best of him. Their new teacher had disgusted Kid even from across the room. How was he supposed to play basketball with him? Kid knew he wouldn't be wearing his red cloak while playing basketball, which meant his _arm _would be in view. Kid paced angrily, his mind racing with symmetrical thoughts to calm him down.

Back in the classroom, Ed was pondering going to play basketball with everyone. "Okay, sure," He finally decided, "We'll come. But you guys can call me Ed now, okay? It would be weird playing with a _teacher._" He smiled at his new friends and told them he had to drop off his things and change, and that he would meet them at the court. Soul smiled, grabbed Maka's hand, and they left the room. Ed was happy that the kids seemed to accept him, except that kid with the weird lines in his hair. _I wonder what was up with him,_ thought Ed. _He doesn't seem to like me much. Oh well, the others seem to like us well enough!_

Al wasn't as happy as his brother. He wondered what the other kids thought about his armor, and if they would let him play. "Brother, what if they ask me to take off my armor?" Al asked his older brother. "I really want to play, but what if they don't let me?"

Ed didn't seem to think this was an issue. "Al, plenty of people have asked about your armor. Just tell them the same thing you tell everyone else. They all seem nice enough to me. Except that one kid, with the stripes in his hair. I wonder what his problem is."

Al had seen how Kid had run away when Soul asked the brother's if they wanted to hang out. "Well, did you see how he reacted to my armor? He passed out because of how symmetrical it is. The older girl, I think her name was Liz, said this happens a lot because he's obsessed with symmetry. Maybe he saw your arm, and doesn't like you because you aren't symmetrical."

"But that's insane! Nobody is perfectly symmetrical! But maybe you're right. Maybe I'm _too _un-symmetrical for him. Well, whatever his problem is, I hope it doesn't ruin our game with the others!" Ed shut his briefcase and looked at his brother. "C'mon, we don't want to be late!"

Kid was pacing the floor in the house he shared with Liz and Patti. "C'mon, Kid, calm down," urged Liz. "It's not a big deal. Edward and Alphonse are new, and Soul was just being polite by inviting them to play basketball. I don't see why you're freaking out."

Kid paused his pacing and looked at Liz. "Not a big deal? Of course you might think so, but as a reaper I must retain my honor, and I'm not going to lose it to some pipsqueak showoff." He continued pacing, which made Patti laugh, as she does anytime Kid throws a fit.

"How is he hurting your honor?" Liz asked.

"He comes in to the DWMA, shows off his fancy little skills, and now he has everyone wrapped around his little metal finger. He thinks he's better than a reaper. But of course he's not, so I think I might have to put him in his place." An idea was forming in Kid's head.

Liz sighed and shook her head. "Well, we're going to play b-ball. If you decide to get over this tantrum, we'll be there. Come on, Patti, let's go." With that, they walked out the door.

"Fine!" Kid exploded. "Choose him over your meister! I don't mind at all!" He shut the door behind the girls and went back to pacing, his idea growing with each pass across the floor. A mischievous smile began to plaster itself on his face. He knew _exactly _how he would regain his honor from Edward.

At the court, Blackstar and Soul were shooting a few hoops before Ed and Al got there. Liz, Patti, and Tsubaki were on the sidelines cheering them on. Crona had said he had a headache, so he didn't want to come. Maka was sitting on the bench, keeping an eye out for the Eric brothers and Kid. Nobody was too worried when Kid didn't show up with the rest of them; they all assumed he was throwing a symmetry-fit. _I hope he gets over this soon, _thought Maka, _Ed seems like a nice guy, and I don't want Kid to not like him for not being symmetrical. _Maka was so lost in thought that she didn't see Ed and Al until she was engulfed in the younger brother's shadow.

"Oh! Hi guys!" Maka said. "We were waiting for you. The boys look pretty eager to start playing." She looked over at Soul and Blackstar, who were now wrestling about what counts as a foul. She couldn't help but laugh at their antics. "We usually play a few 3-on-3 games, so that some people can take a break." As she turned back to the new arrivals, she saw something glinting in the corner of her eye. It was Ed's automail arm, shining in the bright sun.

Edward, realizing his arm might be making Maka uncomfortable, put his arm behind his back and grinned. "Yeah, that sounds great. 3-on-3, perfect. So how do we pick teams?"

Maka shrugged. "I'm not exactly sure. I don't usually play much; I'm not very good at basketball. But Soul and Blackstar can tell you. Hey, Soul! Blackstar!" She called the two boys over to explain the rules. After a few minutes, the three boys ran over to the court, while Maka and Alphonse sat on the bench; they had offered to sit out the first game.

After a few minutes, Alphonse broke the awkward silence. "Wow, they're pretty good. Do they play a lot?"

"Any opportunity they have, they'll play. It takes our minds off things like school, and the Kishin. Edward is pretty good, too. He doesn't even look tired!" Maka stared in awe as Ed ran across the court, back and forth, almost without effort.

Al nodded. "We do a lot of sparring and we exercise a lot. He hasn't beaten me in a skirmish yet, but he's gotten close." He chuckled at the memories of him and his brother, practicing fighting techniques on old Pinako's lawn, while Winry watched, a cup of cold water always at the ready for Ed. He sighed, thinking about how long it'd been since they'd seen the Rockbells.

Maka took advantage of Al's reminiscing to try and read his soul. She was having trouble getting to his soul. His wavelengths were unlike any other she had seen. They didn't seem to radiate from his whole being like other people, but from a fixed point right below his helmet. _Well that's different,_ she thought. _It's almost as if it's …anchored by something. _She concentrated harder, trying to find out why this younger boy's soul was so different. She was concentrating so hard that she didn't notice Kid walking past her until Al said hi to him.

She looked up to see who Alphonse had addressed. "Kid, you came! We were worried about you. Are you alright?" Kid walked past Maka without even acknowledging her. She looked over at Al, who just shrugged. The others were too involved in their game to notice Kid until he walked to the middle of the court and grabbed the ball. He threw it without looking and it landed right in Maka's lap, a safe distance away from the court.

"Hey, Kid, we're in the middle of a game!" yelled Blackstar. "What's your deal?" Blackstar tapped Kid's shoulder, trying to get his attention. Kid was facing Edward, his back turned to all his friends. Without turning around, he told them to get off the court. "But…our game…" Blackstar argued feebly.

"Blackstar, Soul, Tsubaki, _get off the court._" Kid's eyes were locked on Edward's, two pairs of golden eyes equally determined not to back down. "It's not going to be safe here. Liz, Patti, weapon form. _Now._" The Thompson sisters changed to twin pistol form and flew into Kid's waiting hands. He spun them around a couple times, stopping them with his pinkies on the triggers.

"So," Ed mused, "It's come to this. We don't even know each other, yet you challenge me to a battle. You do know you're talking to the youngest state alchemist in history, right?" While he was talking he had clapped his hands together, and a blue lightning-like substance surrounding him. When the blue light cleared, his right arm had become a sort of sword or dagger.

_There he goes again, alchemy without a circle,_ Maka reaffirmed. _Kid better know what he's getting into. This guy is all business._ Although she was worried for her friend, she was also excited to see who would win, as was everyone else. On one hand, Kid had his flying skateboard, which gave him an advantage. On the other hand, Edward seemed capable of creating practically anything with what the surroundings had to offer. It seemed to be an even battle, but who could tell?

Soul came to stand by Maka. "Hey, we don't need to get a teacher to validate this fight, do we? Since one of them _is_ a teacher?" Soul was always ready for a fight, whether he's fighting or just watching. Either way, he wanted to make sure it was a legitimate fight.

Maka hadn't thought about that. "I dunno. I guess since it's not against students, and since one of them is a teacher, it's probably alright." She and Soul sat down, anticipating the oncoming show.

Back on the court, Kid was talking to his newfound rival. "Well, well. You think that just because you're a state alchemist you can defeat a reaper? You think a little pocketwatch makes you as powerful as the son of Shinigami?" He laughed a dry, humorless laugh and called on his flying skateboard, Beelzebub.

Ed grimaced. _Huh, this kid's gonna be tougher to beat than I thought, with that skateboard. _Without a moments hesitation he clapped his hands again, then put them on the ground, sending giant pillars out of the earth. He hopped onto one that was still growing so he was at the same height as the young reaper. "It's not just the pocketwatch," he called, "It's also the fact that I've been in more fights that you could possibly imagine!" He surveyed his pillars, deciding the best route to his foe.

The pillars weren't only an advantage to Ed, but a disadvantage to Kid, making it harder for him to ride Beelzebub smoothly. Keeping an eye on where he was going _and _an eye on Ed was proving to be difficult. Especially since the latter was so tiny. He finally closed in on the pillar Edward was standing on, and started shooting at him. "You think any of your fights match up to what I've seen?" he called over the explosions left by his soul wavelengths. "I aided in defeating the worlds main source of darkness, the Kishin. I'm pretty sure the dog of the military hasn't seen more than a few petty thieves!" With that, he flew a few yards away, letting Ed compose himself after the onslaught of soul wavelengths.

The young alchemist wasn't going to be beaten that easily. He quickly composed himself and ran towards Kid, who had rested on a pillar for a moment. He pulled his right arm back, ready to stab Kid. Or so it seemed. Instead, he aimed for the seams of the left arm of Kid's jacket. His arm-dagger sliced cleanly, tearing the arm from the jacket. It fluttered to ground far below and Kid just looked at his one bare arm. Before Kid let his asymmetry get to him he ripped off his jacket and threw it down, where it lay with the detached sleeve, far below the brawling rivals in the sky. His pale, bare chest gleamed in the midday sun. He looked up at Edward and gave a small chuckle. "Is that all you've got, Shrimp?"

Before Edward could react, Kid was already soaring down to a lower elevation. Ed, now burning with the fury of a thousand suns from being called "Shrimp," didn't even bother to give chase. Instead he clapped his hands onto the pillar he was standing on, and his alchemic forces created a giant stone wall that the young reaper slammed headfirst into, which knocked him off Beelzebub and onto the ground.

Feigning unconsciousness, Kid and his twin pistols started Soul Resonance while they waited for Edward to get to ground level. By the time Ed had gotten to the ground, Kid had his death cannons leveled at the alchemist. Edward stopped short, seeing the power behind those cannons. Very slowly he clapped his hands together and touched them to the ground. Right as the flash of blue lightning crackled across the ground, Kid fired. One cannon hit Ed square in the chest, knocking him back a few feet. The alchemy that Ed had sent towards Kid hit the other cannon, knocking it so it shot off center, right into the stone wall that Kid ran into earlier. The wall towered over Kid, at least twenty feet tall. It started to rumble from the impact of the Soul Resonance wavelength. Suddenly it collapsed, toppling to where Kid sat. He braced himself for the impact, but was hit from the side instead, sending him flying away from the now-collapsed pile of rubble.

Kid blinked, surprised that he hadn't been crushed by tons of stone. As he looked towards the pile of rubble, a figure came out of the dust that permeated the air. It was Edward. He was holding his right shoulder, as if it had become dislocated. He walked up to Kid and held out his left hand. Kid looked at it, dumbfounded.

Ed laughed. "Well, are you just gonna sit there all day?" Kid took his hand hesitantly, and gave him a quizzical look.

"You-you saved me. But… why?" Kid asked. He couldn't understand why his foe would risk his life to save the person he was fighting just a minute ago.

"If I left you there, you could've died! I couldn't just leave you there. Even if it _did_ mean I would win," replied Edward.

Kid was speechless. Here he was, willing to protect his honor by any means necessary, while Edward was willing to protect Kid's life over his own. _What kind of person does that make me?_ thought Kid. _A worse person than Edward,_ a little voice in his head replied. He sighed, then said, "You were willing to risk your life to save mine. I thought honor was about being able to uphold your name in battle. But now I see that real honor is knowing when to stop in a battle." Feeling embarrassed by how immature he had acted, he looked down at the ground and held out his hand. "Good fight, though."

Ed shook Kid's hand and replied, "Yeah, well, I've been in situations where it's hard to stop." _Like with Shou Tucker, and what he did to Nina and Alexander. _"And I can't have another person's blood on my hands. My own brother's in enough," he mumbled, more to himself than Kid. Kid had no idea what Ed was talking about, but he decided not to press it, at least for now. "But the important thing is that neither of us was hurt _too_ badly." When the young alchemist said that, he involuntarily reached for his right arm as a spasm of pain radiated from his shoulder. "That's another story for my arm though. Winry's gonna kill me if it's actually busted." He tried to move his right arm. It could move, but caused him terrible pain.

When the dust finally settled, everybody ran towards the ex-foes. Kid was hanging back, ashamed at how a pipsqueak like Edward was more honorable than he was. He had given his torn jacket to Ed to use as a sort of sling, so it didn't jostle too much. Everybody was full of questions: Who won? Was anybody hurt too badly? How were they going to explain the giant pillars of earth to the teachers? Liz and Patti turned back to human form and sat on the grass a few feet away from everyone else; they were tired from Soul Resonance and needed a break.

The most concerned was Alphonse; he knew how careless his brother was with automail. "Brother!" he called, "Are you okay? How is your arm?" He walked up to Ed and Kid. He tried to reach for Ed's arm, but Ed wouldn't let him come too near. "Its okay, brother, I'll be careful, unlike you are." Ed grinned sheepishly.

Kid was reluctant to join the others but when Maka started walking over, he discarded the hope of being left alone. "How badly are you hurt?" She looked him over, checking his bare chest and arms for any major cuts. "You have a pretty deep cut on your left shoulder, but other than that you only have a few minor cuts and bruises." She ripped a strip of fabric from her jacket and wrapped it around Kid's arm.

"Thanks, Maka. I didn't realize he cut me when that happened." He rolled his shoulder a few times, then stood up. "Now, if you'll excuse me for a minute," he continued, "I have other matters to attend to." With that, he walked over to where the Elric brother's were sitting.

"Brother?" Alphonse called to Ed. "How bad is your arm? Winry is going to kill you if it's broken again." He grabbed his older brother's arm, which caused him to flinch and cry out. "Sorry, sorry! I didn't think it was that bad." When Ed cried out, Kid started running towards them.

He was out of breath when he got over to them. "What's wrong?" he cried. "I didn't break it, did I? Is it fixable? I'll be more than willing to pay for it." After Ed had been willing to sacrifice himself to save Kid, he was willing to do anything to repay the alchemist.

Ed shrugged, which made him flinch. "It's probably just got a few spots that need to be fixed. No trouble at all, if Winry was here." He frowned, mentally calculating if it would be cheaper to go back home for a repair and tune-up, or send Winry money to come to Death City. He decided Winry should get a vacation to the big city, which would also mean they could stay to look for any trace of Marco's research.

"Winry?" inquired Kid.

"Oh, she's a friend from home," replied Edward. "She's a whiz with automail. She made my arm and leg, actually. She's going to throw a fit if she knows I broke this model so soon, but there's nothing else I can do." He sighed, mentally anticipating Winry's arrival. _"What did you do this time?" _she would screech. _"Honestly, if you can't take better care of your automail, I'm going to have to plate it in titanium!" _

"Don't worry, I'll take the blame. It was my doing anyway" Kid assured Ed. "And don't worry about train fare, I've got that, too."

"Are you sure?" hesitated Ed. "My brother and I get by on a state alchemist's pay. We could afford it."

"It's no problem," declared Kid. "I owe it to you; after all, you did save my life."

The two boys sat and talked for a while longer, each regaining the strength they had lost in the battle. After about half an hour Soul and Blackstar were ready to get back to their basketball game. "Hwy," called Soul, "you lovebirds coming or what?"

Kid was appalled. "Lovebirds? What do you mean by lovebirds?"

Soul grinned. "Oh, nothing. Nothing at all." He threw the ball at Kid. "Although, you could prove to me you two aren't lovebirds by beating Blackstar and I in a two-on-two game."

Kid didn't hesitate. "Of course we can beat you two amateurs. A reaper and an alchemist? We'll be practically unstoppable! Hey, Ed, you up for a game?"

Ed looked over, startled. "A game? Now?" He looked at his useless arm. "Umm, I'd be more of a burden than anything. But after I get my arm fixed up, we'll beat 'em to a pulp!" He laughed and went back to examining his arm, seeing if anything rattled when he moved it.

_Oh yeah, I forgot about his arm. Wow, I must be more tired than I thought to forget something like that. _Now that he thought about it, Kid realized how tired he was. He could sleep for a week, it felt like.

Maka seemed to be reading his mind. "Hey, it's getting pretty late. Maybe we should get going for now." _I bet those two are tired from their brawl, _she thought, _I bet they don't want to do anything but sleep. I hope Edward's arm will be okay._ Everyone said their goodbyes and walked off in their different directions.

"See you tomorrow, lovebirds!" called Soul with a laugh. Ed and Kid gave him a death-glare; they were too tired to do anything else. But it seemed to do the trick. Soul grabbed Maka's hand, mumbled "come on, let's go home," and started running in the direction of the setting sun. Kid and Ed just laughed and continued walking until they went their separate ways.


	2. Professor Stein's Past

CHAPTER TWO

"Hey, Kid! K-i-i-i-i-d! Wake up, we're gonna be late!" Liz shook the lazy reaper's shoulder in hopes of waking him up. The only response she got was a muffled "I don't wanna" and a groan of pain. After a few moments of nagging, Kid sat up, stretched his arms, and winced. He was moving his arms, trying to loosen them up, when the events of the day before came back to him. That's right, he thought, I had that big fight with Ed. He examined his left shoulder, where Edward's blade-arm had cut cleanly through his jacket. It had cut deeper than Ed had meant, and Kid now had quite an injury to nurse back to health. At least I can still use the rest of my arm. Poor Ed can't even move his!

Deciding that he had it better than his ex-opponent, Kid got out of bed and walked over to his closet, where he always kept a few extra jackets. He flinched as he put on his

shirt and jacket, and even had to have Liz put his Death Mask brooch on for him. "You had better get that shoulder fixed up soon, Kid," said Liz. "Patti and I aren't going to do every little thing that causes you pain to do." Kid gave her a look, which made Patti laugh, making Kid even more upset. He stormed out of the house and started walking to school, the Thompson sisters calling after him to slow down.

Over at the Death City Hotel, Edward was just getting off the phone with Winry. Al, sitting on the other side of the room, could hear Winry's screeching about Ed's busted arm. "I just made the one two months ago! How did you bust it up this time?!"

Ed was vehemently trying to calm Winry down. "Look, it's not that bad. I just need my shoulder put back in place and maybe a couple extra bolts that may have come loose." Winry started howling about how her bolts "can't come loose, I used a brand new air-compressor socket wrench Pinako got me for my birthday!" Edward looked ready to snap, so he wrapped up the conversation before he told Winry about his stupid fight. "Look, the bottom line is that I need my arm repaired and you're the only one I trust to fix it. I'm in Death City and I can't leave right now, so would you be able to come here to fix my arm?" He held the phone a good foot away from his ear as Winry squealed about how much she needed a vacation and always heard Death City had some of the best automail because of all the weapons and she would pack right away and how long would she be there and how would she get there? Ed quickly explained that he would wire the money to her and she should get to Death City in the next couple of days. They said their goodbyes and Ed sighed, trying to move his dislocated arm.

Al looked at the clock and jumped up. "Brother," he called, "we're going to be late!" Ed looked up from his arm and started scrambling to get ready. The boys ran to the DWMA as fast as they could, but Ed's legs were already jelly by the time they got to the bottom of the stairs. There was no way he could get up all those stairs before 7 o'clock. It was already 6:45! "Quick, brother, get on my back!" Edward gave his brother a look, but knew there was no other way to get to the DWMA in time. Ed hopped up onto Al's back and the started up the stairs. A few students gave them very strange looks, and Edward knew he would get teased for this. The brothers walked into room 206 just as the bell rang.

"Hello class," Ed said breathlessly. "Today…we will be l-learning…about—the chemi-chemical components…of different items." As he tried to catch his breath, Alphonse started explaining what chemical components were.

"A chemical compound is a substance formed by chemical union of two or more elements or ingredients in definite proportion by weight." Alphonse lost a few students here, including Soul and Blackstar who were busy drawing a comic about Edward's shortness, but he didn't seem to notice. "Technically, everything is a chemical. Therefore, the most complex thing, even if it's made up of other chemicals, is still a chemical." About half the class looked lost by now, but Al seemed to be scanning the deepest recesses of his mind for this information. "For example, the human body is made up of 35 litres of water, 20 kilograms of carbon, four litres of ammonia, one-and-a-half kilograms of lime, 800 grams of phosphorus, 250 grams of salt, 100 grams of nitrogen, 80 grams of sulfur, seven-and-a-half grams of fluorine, five grams of iron, three grams of silicon and 15 other trace elements. Although each of these is a chemical, the human body is still a chemical too."

Edward, seeing how confused the class was (minus Maka and Ox, who were furiously writing down notes), jumped in with an easier-to-understand explanation. "Okay, look: chemicals are what make up everything in the world, including you. To understand the basics of alchemy, you have to understand that everything has a chemical makeup. And to create something out of something else, which is the basic reason for alchemy, you have to know the chemical makeup of each object. That is one of the main rules of Equivalent Exchange."

At that, Kid perked up. "Equivalent exchange" sounded very symmetrical, and he wanted to hear more about it. He raised his hand, but Ed was too deep in explaining the chemical makeup of other things to see Kid's hand. He realized he had missed his chance and would have to wait until Edward was done with his lesson. Finally, with five minutes remaining in the class, Ed asked if anyone had any questions. Kid's hand shot up almost immediately.

"You mentioned Equivalent Exchange earlier, could you elaborate on it?" Ed looked sharply at Kid, realizing he hadn't taught the students about Equivalent Exchange on the first day. How could I forget to tell them about that? Some teacher I am, he thought, silently scolding himself for forgetting something so vital in the world of alchemy.

"Humankind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return." Alphonse's small voice seemed to suddenly fill the room. "To obtain, something of equal value must be lost." His voice was getting progressively louder, and at this he stood up, and his booming voice filled the room. "That is alchemy's first law of Equivalent Exchange."

Edward seemed a bit embarrassed by his brother's enthusiasm, but before he could interject, the bell rang and all the kids left the class. Kid was the last one out of the room, because he wanted to make sure Ed's arm wasn't hurting too bad.

"Oh, yeah, don't worry about it. I called Winry this morning, she's probably already on her way here. It'll be kind of tough for the next few days but I'll be fine once she gets here."  
"Well, alright then," Kid said dubiously. He left the classroom and walked home with Liz and Patti.

After the classroom was empty, Alphonse let his thoughts out. "Brother, come on, we should go do some research about the Stone! That's the whole reason we came here, and we haven't found anything yet," Al stated, with a hint of worry in his metallic voice. His brother didn't seem nearly as distressed. He propped his feet on his desk and leaned back in his chair, his one working arm behind his head. "Brother! I'm serious!"

"Alphonse, relax. We've only been here for like three days, and I can't very well carry many books in my condition, can I? Now calm down and, I don't know, grade some papers or something. I'm going to go get something to eat from the cafeteria." Ed picked his feet up off the table and his chair fell back on all four legs with a thud that echoed through the room.

As the young alchemist was wandering the halls looking for the cafeteria, he bumped into Professor Stein, literally. He looked up at the tall man, with his jaggedly sewn face and clothes, and the giant bolt stuck through his head. Stein looked down at Edward, a terrifying grin on his face. His glasses flashed.

"Oh, I'm sorry little one. I must not've been watching where I was going." Stein didn't seem to remember the young alchemist he only hired days ago. His voice had an almost soothing quality, but with an underlying tone that made Ed shiver. Nonetheless, he still got defensive at being called "little one."

"HEY I"M NOT LITTLE I'M A TEACHER HERE HOW DARE YOU CALL ME LITTLE YOU'RE THE ONE WHO HIRED ME-" Oh, that's right, thought Stein, this is the new alchemy teacher. I almost forgot. As Ed continued to yell at Stein, the professor decided to do some investigating on the young man he had hired just days ago. He twisted the bolt in his head to be able to read Edward's soul properly. What he found shocked him greatly. He grasped the yelling alchemist's head and moved him to the side. "Hey ,where do you think you're going?! I'm not through with yo-," But the professor was already gone. Edward turned back the way he was going, and stomped on to continue searching for the cafeteria.

When Professor Stein got back to his office, he locked the door and went to the far corner of the room. He pushed a bookcase aside, so he could get to a secret compartment hidden in the floor. He opened it and took out a notebook that looked quite old and torn up, with blood spattered on the cover and in some of the pages. He flipped to one page that was so covered with blood that the writing was barely legible. Only a few words stood out of the red-brown stains. Alchemy, human transmutation, failure, The Door. There was also a picture paperclipped to the page. It showed a transmutation circle, one only used by alchemists who would commit the ultimate taboo of trying to bring a human back to life.

Stein had always thought of everything as an experiment. And practicing alchemy was no exception. After graduating the DWMA, he stayed near the school so he could do simple experiments. After almost a decade of doing nothing but tearing up and putting back together small animals, he was getting bored. So he went off on his own for a bit. At the time, he was extremely taken by alchemy, and went around the world trying to learn as much as possible. His ambitions eventually led him to a land called Amestris, where alchemist were commonly drafted into the military. During the time of his visit, the Ishvalan War of Extermination was going on, so many of the alchemists he had hoped to consult in Central were unreachable.

He heard murmurs of a woman, an alchemist, who lived in a southern city called Dublith. She had remained nameless in the big city, but people had heard that she infiltrated Fort Briggs a few years back. From what Stein had researched, Fort Briggs was the toughest, most well-protected military base in the country. If a single woman was able to break through that kind of security then she was definitely worth looking up.

When Stein had located Izumi, he was surprised to find the person he did. He had expected an aged, strong-looking woman, but instead found a small, young women who seemed too young to know all that she knew about alchemy. But after spending a day with her and her hulking husband, Sig, Stein had learned much about the deadly science, how much it can help people, but how it can corrupt people with a weak will. Although she knew much on the subject, and was glad to share her knowledge, Izumi had been hesitant to reveal her personal past to a stranger.

"I'm sorry if I've made you feel uncomfortable, ma'am. I didn't mean to pry," Stein apologized. "Sometimes my interest in the unknown gets in the way of my manners." He chucked.

"No, it-it's no problem. I just haven't told anyone before." She looked up at Sig who was standing behind her, rubbing her tense shoulders. He nodded his head and she took a deep breath. "After finding out that my alchemy instructor was a fraud, I left him to teach myself. During that time, I ran into Sig, and we fell in love immediately."

Sig snickered. "She was carrying a bear. An entire bear! And when she said ran into me, she meant literally. Knocked the bear right off her shoulders!When I picked it up for her, our eyes met and it was love at first sight." He looked at his wife with visible adoration in his eyes.

"Hmm, yes. Not to be rude, but about your past with alchemy...?" Stein inquired.

"Oh, of course, sorry. I didn't mean to bore you with my love life," Izumi said, immediately somber. "After a few years, when we were settled down, Sig and I decided to have a baby. But it... didn't work out how we were hoping. My baby was, he was stillborn. I was heartbroken, we both were." She let her head fall, and Stein could see tears drip onto her hands clasped in her lap. "I didn't know what to do. I was almost mad with grief. I couldn't understand it. I was finally blessed with a baby, and it was taken from me. So I did the only thing I could think of to lessen the pain." Her hands suddenly clenched tighter in her hands and her head whipped up. "I committed the ultimate alchemic taboo." She stood up suddenly, knocking Sig's hands off her shoulders. "I tried to bring my baby back to life! But it didn't work. What I brought back was not my baby. It wasn't even human! It was a monster!" She then proceeded to cough blood and fall onto her chair, nearly faint.

Sig grabbed his wife's hands and led her out of the room. "Could you excuse us for a moment?" He asked Stein. The professor nodded. As the couple left the room, Stein contemplated Izumi's reaction to a lost loved one. Stein had always told himself he was incapable of love, ever since he was little. And he believed it. But being handicapped in this way left him unable to understand the pain of losing someone close to him. He was glad he didn't have useless emotions that got in the way of his experiments, even if people thought of him as a heartless monster.((Right here is where I'm still putting stuff in, so what's written below is kind of out of order))

After a few minutes, Izumi and Sig came back into the room and sat down. "Sorry about that, I'm just still a bit sensitive on that topic," the woman apologized. "Now that I've gotten that out of my system, I'll tell you about what I saw after... after the transmutation. As you know, most people need a transmutation circle to perform alchemy."

"Yes, I am aware of this. And certain aspects of circles accomplish different results."

"That's correct. But you see, human transmutation changes that. Although it doesn't do what you want it to do, it gives you an end result that is still useful. When you perform this taboo it opens The Door."

"The Door to what?" Stein inquired.

"To all," Izumi said quietly. "The Door holds knowledge of everything behind it. When you attempt a human transmutation, you open The Door. But it doesn't open for free. It takes something from you, something from your body. For me, it took some of my organs, which is why I was coughing up blood a bit ago. It also made me unable to have children ever again."

"I'm sorry for your loss, ma'am. But to have something so drastic taken from you, you must have learned quite a lot?"

Izumi sighed. "Yes, when The Door opened, all the knowledge of the world was shown to me. But I was only able to grasp some of it. The one thing it did for me though, was teach me how to perform alchemy without using a transmutation circle. See, watch." She took a cup off the table, clapped her hands, and pressed them onto the cup. A blue bolt of light flashed from her hands to the cup, and the cup transformed into a beautiful glass swan.

The professor seemed impressed. "So you lost things vital and important to you, but you got quite a gift in return. That's quite a trade."

"Yes, but not one I would've picked if I had known the outcome. It is of course convenient, but the trade-off wasn't the most desirable." She sighed. "But I know I must live with the consequences of my actions. I learned that when I first became an alchemist, and I have learned to take full responsibility for everything I do. "

"I can tell you take this very seriously. And as I've learned from my research and from you, you are smart to take it so seriously." He smiled at Izumi, eerily but sincerely. He then looked up at the clock. "Oh my, time seems to have passed quicker than I thought it would. I should be going now then." He stood up to shake Izumi's hand. "Thank you for telling me about your knowledge on alchemy. I will use it wisely for my research."

Izumi and Sig walked the professor to the door. "It was my pleasure. I enjoy sharing my knowledge of alchemy, unlike my imposter of a teacher." She said this in an irritated tone, but was smiling. "Now, I know you're a scientist and all, but don't go around trying to bring someone back to life. I wouldn't wish this life even on my worst enemies, let alone a nice man who's simply hungry for knowledge!" She had given this warning to Stein with a chuckle, but her eyes were deadly serious. He had almost felt bad for going against her advice for the sake of science. But a small consequence such as low-functioning organs was nothing to worry about in his eyes, if he could unlock the secrets of The Door. But for Izumi's sake, he decided to push the idea of human transmutation out of his head and pursue the knowledge of chimeras. He waved as he walked away from the cozy little butcher shop.

After his visit to the Curtis household, Stein went back to Central, where he had been gladly welcomed as a guest from the famous DWMA. He visited many libraries and records searching for information on chimeras, and finally after a few days pouring over books a state alchemist suggested he look up Shou Tucker who was known for trying to get his state alchemist license by creating chimeras. Stein was very intrigued and thanked the soldier greatly. He left immediately to look up and visit Shou Tucker.

When the professor got to the Tucker residence, a beautiful young woman holding a baby opened the door. She seemed shocked to see such a strange man at her door. She discreetly adjusted the baby on her hip away from Stein. "Can I help you?" she asked.

"Is this the residence of Mr. Shou Tucker? I was told by military personnel that he was the one too see for information about chimeras," Stein replied.

"Oh. Yes, he's here. Please, come in. HONEY! Someone's here to see you," the woman called up the stairs. "The living room is over here, Shou should be down in a minute." She walked into the living room with Stein trailing behind her. She put the baby in a playpen and sat down in a chair. Stein sat on the couch, and Shou came in moments later.

Stein stood up to shake Tucker's hand. "You must be Mr. Shou Tucker, known for his genius in the topic of chimeras. It's an honor to meet you. I'm professor Franken Stein from the DWMA. I'm quite a fan of of dissecting and experimenting on animals myself."

"Good to meet you. It's hard to find anyone around here with the same interests as myself. You say you're from the DWMA? I don't believe I've ever heard of that." Tucker seemed pleased that this man showed up at his house, hoping to discuss chimeras.

Stein explained, "The DWMA, or Death Weapon Meister Academy, is a school where children learn to wield weapons to keep the world free of evil creatures called 'Kishins.' The weapons these students are actually other students who have the ability to turn into weapons. It all revolves around souls and their wavelengths, and how compatible the weapon and meister's souls are."

Tucker was captivated by the school Stein was from and how much they relied on souls for what they did. During his time trying to become a state alchemist, he had heard about a Philosopher's stone that used souls-but could perform miracles. He asked Stein if they had a Stone at the DWMA. Stein seemed confused and said he didn't know what that was. Tucker dropped the subject and showed Stein to his lab in the basement. Before he could go down with Stein, Shou's wife pulled him aside.

"Shou, you don't know this man. He just showed up on our doorstep, out of nowhere! And now you're going to show him your experiments?" She grimaced on the last word. "Are you crazy? This isn't safe!" She seemed genuinely frightened, but her husband paid no heed.

"Darling, don't worry. He said he came from a school, what kind of school would let a madman work there?" He was already edging toward the basement door before his wife could respond.

"How do you know he's telling the truth?" she hissed. "Maybe he is a madman and is making all this up to steal your research! We're relying on you passing your state alchemist exam to make it through the winter. We can't take any chances." She was struggling to keep her voice down so as not to disturb the baby.

"No need to worry, I'm not going to give him any of my data, just tell him what I learned before I started experimenting." He embraced his wife, who hesitantly hugged him back. "How about you take Nina and go to the park? I think she'd like some air." He headed down the stairs without another word. Exasperated, his wife took the bouncing baby out of her playpen and into a stroller. "Let's go, Nina. Daddy's busy."

Down in the drab, shadowy, basement, Stein was inspecting a multitude of cages filled with different chimeras. Lizards combined with birds sitting in cages; cats mixed with fish, half drowned in fishtanks; what looked like a spider with butterfly wings banged around in a glass case. "So you created all of these yourself?" he asked Tucker with awe. He could've stayed down there forever, inspecting and dissecting these anomalies.

Tucker replied, with pride, "Yes, with nothing but alchemy and my own hands. Although I've learned much from it, the military doesn't seem to find it very useful." He sighed. "I've taken the state alchemist exam twice, but each time they said my 'talent' wouldn't be 'helpful to the cause.' But I'll be taking it again next spring, so maybe they'll have changed their minds by then." He reached into a cage and pulled out what seemed to be a foot long snake with the head and front paws of a rat. It slithered up Tuckers arm and rested on his shoulder.

Stein reached for the cage with the lizard-bird, and looked to Tucker for permission. Tucker nodded. Stein opened the cage and took the creature out, letting it fly around him and perch on his arm. He then proceeded to inspect it closer. "Do you have any idea what you're going to do for your exam? It seems you might have to think outside the box for this one," Stein commented.

"I've been entertaining some ideas, but I feel that the military will simply find me useless once again. Perhaps I could make a chimera out of bigger animals, maybe a lion and crocodile. That could be quite the killing machine." The alchemist seemed to have started mumbling to himself by this point. He then shared with Stein all he knew on chimeras: How they are created, how they stay alive, and how much the bodies are altered. Near the end of Stein's visit, an idea occurred to him.

Stein hesitated before telling Tucker his idea. Anything for science, he though. He finally suggested, "Tucker, had you thought about creating chimeras out of more than just stupid animals?" He looked up at the alchemist knowingly through his glasses. "I can almost guarantee the military would notice that."

Tucker looked at the professor with shock and admiration. "Are you suggesting... a human chimera?" Stein nodded. "But it's illegal to experiment on humans. They would never accept it. Such a shame, that's a wonderful idea. I probably could even get it to talk."

"Who ever said they have to know that it's part human? They're all military grunts, I doubt they'll be able to tell what it's made out of. As long as they see an end result, they'll be happy," Stein retorted. He could see understanding dawning on Tucker's face as he realized that it would be possible. After a few hours discussing chimeras and Tucker's exam, Stein left, happy with the knowledge he had gained. The next day, he took the train out of Central and headed back to the DWMA.

When the professor got back to the DWMA, he headed down into the dungeons, where Lord Death said he could practice his alchemy. It was dark, far away from people, and off limits to the students, so it was reasonably the safest place for dangerous tasks to be completed. After wandering the halls of the dungeon for half an hour, Stein found the room that Death had marked for him to use. In big, oddly shaped letters, a sign read "Do Not Enter- Fatal Dangers Await." Well that should keep at least some students out, thought Stein, if any DWMA students would be deterred by a little sign. He shook his head and opened the door to find cases of chalk, piles of cages, compasses, towers of books, stacks of paper and pencils, and blocks of materials: wood, cement, metals, everything an alchemist would need.

He walked over to a desk in the corner of the room, set down his bag, and pulled out a beat-up old journal. He opened the journal to a page marked with a piece of scrap paper, where he had written down everything he learned about chimeras. He then went about writing all his new knowledge in a large, more permanent book. He didn't include any of the personal information he had written down, this hard copy was strictly for information. He had already filled a couple dozen pages with simple alchemy rules, transmutation circles, and the chemical makeup of a few items. But now he would be able to fill this book with his own finding instead of just things he read in books.

After a few weeks of practicing alchemy, he was content that he had achieved enough experience with chimeras to show Lord Death his progress. He had made many chimeras that didn't survive, and a few that did, and an even fewer amount that cooperated when he told them a command. He decided to bring up his favorite creation, a creature with the powerful legs of a wolf, yet the dexterity of a cat, the obedience of a dog, and the head of a snake. It was small enough to sit in someone's lap, so it was a very good stealth attack creature. He put it in a travel cage and brought it to Lord Death's room.

"Ah, Stein! Hello, hello, come in!" Lord Death seemed quite excited to see Stein, and his latest creation. "I hope you planned to stay for tea!" Stein set the cage down and walked over to the tea table, where Death was already pouring tea into two cups. The professor sat down and picked up his cup, stirring it before taking a sip. Lord Death did the same, his cup getting lost in his giant glove-like hands. "So I see you brought an animal with you today. Would that be one of those chimeras you've been working on?" He took a drink of tea as he waited for Stein to answer.

"Yes, it's my best one I've made yet," Stein replied. "I thought that since you gave me the time and materials to practice alchemy, you would want to see what I've done so far." He got up and brought the cage to the table. It was covered by a cloth, but the cage was being rattled by the creature inside. The professor pulled the cloth away to reveal the cat-wolf-snake abomination. It hissed at the sudden light and clawed at the air. "Down," Stein said sternly. The thing ceased clawing and sat down obediently, its long cat tail swishing against the bottom of the cage with the vigor of an excited dog.

Lord Death inspected the creature, taking in the diversity of textures, the jaggedly sewn together skin, and the soul. The soul was just as jagged as the outside of the animal, maybe even more so. He was surprised this poor creature still even had a soul after what Stein did to it. It wasn't exactly round like most souls, but more like someone had three balls of clay that they clumped together messily.

After a few minutes, Lord Death asked if it could come out of it's cage. Stein nodded and opened the cage. The animal leapt out and onto Stein's shoulder, where it sat waiting for a command. "Down," the professor said. The animal jumped off his shoulder and onto the table. "He is very obedient, and knows many commands after only a few days of existence. I have to say this is one of the finest accomplishments of my life, behind graduating from the DWMA, of course." He smiled slightly, then returned his focus to his creation. "Take a lap." It jumped five feet in the air, landed across the room, ran around the entirety of the Death Room, and was back on the table sitting obediently before Lord Death had even realized what had happened.

"Wowza, what an achievement! But, Stein, I do have one question for you," Lord Death requested.

"Yes, and what's that?" Stein asked.

"What do you plan to do with this creature? And any other creatures you intend to make?"

Stein answered without hesitation, "My plans were to perfect the science of creating chimeras, making sure they could survive for long periods of time without any negative effects and be more physically and mentally advanced than other animals. Now that I've accomplished that, my work on chimeras is complete. I think I may keep this one, though, as a memento of sorts. If that doesn't break any of the DWMA rules, of course," he added hastily. The last thing he wanted to do was upset Lord Death.

"I think that will be fine," Lord Death replied after a moment. "As long as no one is put in danger because of it, I will permit it to stay on school grounds. And now that that's out of the way, I must get back to business. Thank you for stopping in and showing me your accomplishment, Stein."

"It's no problem, sir. Thank you for allowing me to pursue this interest." He bowed slightly and walked out of the Death Room.

"Oh Stein," Lord Death called, "before you go: Do you plan to continue on the path of alchemy? I don't know much about it, but I know there's more than chimeras involved."

Stein hesitated. "Yes, I do plan to keep learning all I can about alchemy. I am a scientist of course," he responded somewhat darkly.

"Well, be careful. I've heard it is a dangerous art." Death looked at Stein wih a deep meaning in his mask's eyes. Then he was back to his normal, goofy self. "Well, adios, bye-bye, see ya later!" He waved as Stein walked down the hallway, away from the Death Room.

When Stein got back to his laboratory he looked at his stacks of books, pondering what to do next. A little voice in his head said, "How about some human transmutation?" He shook his head, trying to make the voice go away. I promised that woman in Central I wouldn't do it. "How would she know you did it? Are you ever actually going to see her again?" I doubt I will actually see her ever again. Besides, it's in the name of science. "There you go, now you're thinking!" He walked over to his desk and pulled out his journal, where he had written what he knew about Human Transmutation. He found it strange that there was so much information on something that was so taboo, but was thankful for it.

After a few weeks of research and collecting resources, Professor Stein only needed one more element to complete his transmutation- a human to bring back. He figured he could just get the DNA of someone deceased- blood, hair, or otherwise- and bring them back by using the DNA and the chemical components of a human body. When he got all the other components ready, the phosphorus, carbon, iron, ammonia, among other things, he decided to visit the town morgue for some DNA of a dead guy. He ended up with a man who had been mugged two days ago. A man with a life, a job, a family, a home, a name. None of this occurred to the professor.

Around midnight one night, so he would not be disturbed by anyone, he set up the transmutation. It took him an hour and a half to draw the circle, and another 45 minutes to get all the chemical measurements correct. By this time he was itching to learn the secrets of The Door, Izumi's warnings all but forgotten. When he had gotten everything situated he made sure the door was locked, crouched down by the circle, clapped his hands, and put them on the circle. A bolt of light came from his hands and encompassed the tub of ingredients in the middle of the room. but then the light turned to darkness, and the floor opened up to reveal a giant eye. As Stein looked at the eye, a flash of light filled the room, and when he opened his eyes he found himself in a different room.

This room was all white, with no noticeable landmarks except a giant door behind him and a small figure sitting down, barely visible on the white backdrop of the room. "Where am I? Who are you?" Stein demanded.

The figure laughed. "Why I thought you'd never ask! I am what you call the world. Or the universe, or God, or the truth. I am all. I am one." The figure pointed at Stein. "I am also... you." The professor took a step back, taken off guard by the figure's words. He kept walking backwards until his back hit something. He turned around. A door? he thought to himself. No, it must be The Door. He stared at it with awe. "Are you interested to know what's behind that door?" The figure inquired.

Stein turned back around. "Well of course I am. Why else would I be here?" He looked at the figure as if it was an imbecile.

"Wait. You're telling me you didn't perform a human transmutation to bring a loved one back to life?" Stein shook his head in response. "Wow, you must be a pretty heartless man."

"I find human emotions to be more trouble than they're worth," he countered. "I only live to learn, and what could I learn if my emotions kept getting in my way?"

The figure seemed genuinely shocked. "Well, as you probably know then, to see what's behind this door, I need to take something from you." Stein nodded. "And you're perfectly okay with this?" He nodded again. "Then I will show you the truth!" he bellowed. The door behind Stein opened to reveal another eye, exactly like the one in the circle. Little black tentacle-like hands shot out from around the eye and took hold of his limbs. "Oh, one more thing," called the figure. "I'm very fond of your lifestyle, searching the globe for nothing but knowledge. I think I may have to take some of that knowledge for myself!" His thunderous laugh filled the room as the professor was sucked into The Door.

When The Door had closed, the little hands dragged Stein through The Truth. All of the information in the world was in there, which he thought was heaven at first. But the fingers were dragging him too quickly, and he couldn't remember all that he had seen "Go back," he cried, "go back!" The fingers didn't listen, they just kept pulling him along. But finally he realized The Truth. At the end of the information, he saw the man he had tried to bring back to life. He reached out to the man, desperate to get away from these fingers that now seemed to grasp him tighter and tighter. As he was reaching toward the man, his arm started to break down before his eyes. He looked down at his legs and torso to see that they had already unraveled and parts had disappeared entirely. "Wha-what's happening?!" He reached out once more toward the man, and found himself back in the white room, put back together.

The figure looked at Stein, panting and sweaty. "Well, how was it?" the figure asked.

"It was- it was magnificent! All the information I could ever possibly need to know was in there! But I couldn't grasp it all quick enough. I would be delighted if you could send me back in for a while, to gather more data," Stein hinted.

"I can't. You've learned all you deserved to learn for your toll."

Stein was confused. "My toll?"

"Yes, the price you paid to learn what you did. Too bad for you that your best trait was your knowledge!"

The professor suddenly collapsed, holding his head as if it were going to rip in two. He let out a howl of pain as the figure drained his knowledge from his brain. "Equivalent Exchange, correct? I learned these things, so you take something from me, I knew that. But this," he gasped, "is not equivalent! You can't show me this information and take it away just like that!"

The figure laughed. "Sure I can. Human transmutation has only ever been used out of love and desperation. You, heartless man, do not deserve this knowledge. And I'll take a little more, because you learned so much before this transmutation that you don't deserve to know," he said condescendingly, as if Stein was a little baby incapable of thought process. "I'm going to take your sanity, little by little. So slowly you won't even realize it's gone!" The figure bellowed his horrible laugh once more, and Stein found himself back in his lab, clutching his head, trying to remember all that had happened before it was gone entirely. He fumbled around for his journal and pen, trying to jot down what he could. He only got a few lines down before he was distracted by the moaning mass of blood, bones, and skin in the center of the transmutation circle. He crawled toward the mass to see how the transmutation worked for the subject.

When he got close, he saw what he had created. It wasn't even close to human. When he got too close, the thing vomited up blood, covering him and his journal in the red stuff. His head suddenly clenched, forcing him to roll away from the thing and grasp his head, trying to make the pain end. After a minute or two, he blacked out from the pain. The last thing he knew was the pained moans from the creature beside him and the blood seeping into his clothes.

As Stein held his journal, he struggled to remember what he learned over those months. The memories were there-Izumi and Sig, Shou Tucker and his family, his trip to Amestris, his lab in the dungeon-but he could not remember anything he had learned from any of them. And his journal had been so ruined by the thing he couldn't remember had happened all those years ago. His sanity had been slowly deteriorating since then as well, just as the figure had said. He would have kept this journal locked up for the rest of his days, had the state of Edward's soul been so familiar to him. It was the same as the professors: Fragile in places, as if it had been damaged, but toughened by something traumatic. The thing that was killing Stein was not knowing what that traumatic event was.

He had tried to look up information about those few legible words, but anytime he tried, he got a crippling headache. "Well, having this little alchemist around tells me one thing about those missing months," he said to himself, "whatever happened must have been related to alchemy. I guess I'll have to ask him what happened that would warp his soul so," he decided. He flipped the pages in his journal one last time before putting it back in its hiding spot, trying to ignore the start of a headache in the back of his head.


End file.
